Chuck Sweeny: I can’t drive 65, plus home rule and concealed carry

Monday

Apr 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2013 at 7:41 PM

Remember Sammy Hagar’s 1984 hit “I can’t drive 55”? It was a protest of the U.S. law that created a national speed limit of 55 mph, supposedly to save gasoline during a manipulated “energy crisis” in 1974.

Chuck Sweeny

Remember Sammy Hagar’s 1984 hit “I can’t drive 55”?

It was a protest of the U.S. law that created a national speed limit of 55 mph, supposedly to save gasoline during a manipulated “energy crisis” in 1974.

Turns out it didn’t save much gas at all. Plus, the law was immensely unpopular — and frequently ignored. But the law did give the police an opportunity to write more tickets to meet the quotas that “officials” say they don’t have.

Congress repealed the law in 1995, allowing states to again set their own speed limits. The Governors Highway Safety Association says that since 1995, “34 states have raised speed limits to 70 mph or higher on some portion of their roadway systems.”

Illinois set the limit at 65 mph on rural interstates and four-lane highways like U.S. 20 east of Freeport. It’s 55 on two-lanes like U.S. 20 west of Freeport.

Last week the state Senate, voting 41 to 6, passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, to raise the interstate highway speed limit to 70 mph. Oberweis is a suburban dairy owner. His business, like others, would benefit from faster speeds, he acknowledged.

The House now has to decide whether to act on the bill. Gov. Pat Quinn told reporters Thursday he wants to see what the House does and added that when it comes to roads, “It’s all about safety.”

Both the state police and the Illinois Department of Transportation are concerned about the bill, fearing it may raise the speed at which people actually drive and result in more serious accidents.

The interstate highways were built for speed limits of at least 70 mph. And that was the speed limit before the goofy 55 mph law passed. To those critics who say people would actually drive 80 if we have a 70 mph speed limit, I am not so sure. I’ve driven in many states with 70 and 75 mph limits, including Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado and California.

What I’ve observed is that traffic on those roads tends to travel at the same speed, which is close to the set speed limit.

In Illinois, Interstate traffic is chaotic. I’m on I-90 frequently and, although the speed limit is 65, traffic flows from 70 to 75 mph. State police rarely enforce the 65 posted limit. We should return to the original 70 mph limit and have the state cops actually enforce it.

Concealed carry
I see Gov. Pat Quinn wants to implement a version of “concealed carry” that lets local communities — specifically cities with home rule — determine whether to let people carry hidden guns. Illinois is under a federal court order to pass concealed carry legislation.

There are 204 Illinois cities with home rule. Then there’s Rockford, which had home rule before voters turned it out in 1983. There’s been no clamor from the people to reinstate home rule, although leaders from the wine-and-cheese set bring it up from time to time.

But if Quinn’s plan becomes law, the promoters of home rule in Rockford will grow into a “strange bedfellows” coalition of pro-gunners and goo-goo (good government) liberals. Can’t you just picture the parking lot at a home-rule rally? It would be a sea of Ford 150s and Priuses.